The Four Of Us
by OCo200301
Summary: Serena. Gary. Shauna. Ashton. Four very different people, four very special people. They all hadn't met until this point, but now they have to share a dorm for their last year of school. What will this year turn out to be? Amour and Cavalier AU, please R&R. Also on Wattpad under the same name.
1. Chapter 1 (12-19 17:14:07)

**So this has already been published on Wattpad, and now I thought that I would bring it onto this site to see if I could do well on here as this has so far on there. So welcome, my name is OCo, and I welcome you to The Four Of Us!**

 **The Four Of Us**

 **Amourshipping AU**

(Serena POV)

The gentle bump of the runway making collision with the landing gear jolted the plane about as we landed on Hau'oli Coty Airport's runway. This sudden jolt kinda shot some excitement into my cells as I looked back onto the Southern Kantonese Ocean out in the bay.

The pearl white sands of the beaches hustled with people basking in the last of the summer sun and heat as the sun started to set in the early evening conditions. It was the perfect day for maybe a barbecue on it, chilling with friends, eating scrumptious grub and drinking alcohol. The definition of having a good time.

"Thank you for travelling with Air Kalos today," the announcer buzzed as other passengers around me in first class (one of the benefits of being the daughter of a rich businessman) grabbed their hand luggage and headed towards the exits as I stretched out. "We all from the company hope you enjoy your stay in wonderful Alola."

'Come on Serena, one more year and you're free,' I thought to myself as I walked to the exit myself, grabbing my sunglasses out of my bag.

The heat outside compared to the plane wasn't much as I stepped out onto the runway, and breathed the air so fresh and much better then Kalos.

The wait for customs and baggage collection was the usual. Kinda long, but it was worth it, getting used to the Caribbean-like accents of the Alolan people and their enthusiasm was nice again, one of the great reasons and benefits I got for choosing the world-renowned Hau'oli Beach High.

Tying my long blonde hair back into a ponytail, I dragged my suitcase behind me as I pulled my phone out to check the time. 20:34, just perfect to walk to campus instead of a taxi.

Grabbing my headphones too, I turned on my music playlist and walk on, moving my feet to the beat of the song, my sandals clip-clopping against the pavement as the gentle breeze soothed my legs.

Walking through the markets was one of my favourite pastimes, and seeing as I hadn't been in the city for a couple of months, I had to reminisce the vibes.

Having vendors like Ms Ortis, the fruit seller with her loud voice and wittiness, and Mr Campbell, the fishmonger with a great recipe book in his head, it was an amazing feeling to say hello and catch up, something I had to do more with my friends at uni and was my aim for the new year to come.

I can't help being shy and quiet, it's my character and is why I love the way I live my life. There's one thing about having the peace and quiet, and it's that I can concentrate on the good stuff in my life: cooking, learning, history and learning languages. If I had more friends, I would add hanging out at cafes or ordering out food and watching a movie, but my friendship group at this current minute is enough to suffice.

There had been rumours I saw on my social medias that dorms were being shamed up into mixed genders this year as a trial for the future. My view is if true, it'll be nice to hopefully make more friends with people I necessarily would have never thought I would have. Grabbing a fresh mango from the stand in front of me, the fresh taste brought me back to reality.

"Ms Blanche, how many would you like?" Ms Ortis' smile asked.

"Three of these, and a couple of limes, please," I took the paper bag in my arms and proceeded to pull my purse out.

"No money, please. Consider it a welcome back gift," she smiled.

"Oh well, thank you," I said and with a wave continued on my way towards campus.

Soon enough, the high rise apartment block of the dorms came into sight. It was a masterpiece of architecture, bright and colourful, while the glass reflected the low lying sun. Why an ideal place of residence should be like.

"Excuse me, whoah!" A small force ran into me and launched me forward slightly. Once I staggered to a stop, I turned around to see a small brunette, at least a couple of inches shorter then myself brushing herself down.

Her hair was lovely, long and straight parted into slight ponytails on both sides. Her petite frame was curvy in all of the right places, shouting out for a boy to take. She has piercing lime eyes, that were vibrant and beautiful in their own world. Her pink top and short shorts collided perfectly with her sandals, and she seemed very tanned too.

"I'm so sorry. I was trying to get to the reception desk before tonight," she said, seemingly worn out. "Shauna's the name."

"Don't worry at all," I smiled. "Serena, nice to meet you." I stuck my hand out, and she shook it. Her touch was soft and firm, but not firm enough to hurt.

"Hopefully this is a start of a new friendship." Shauna smiled. I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm, and it wouldn't be hard to make a new friend.

"Sure, why not?" We opened the door and walked over to the desk where a slightly whitening man sat typing away on his computer behind it.

"Welcome back seniors. How may I help you?" He, Winston his name tag read, asked.

"Can we find it our dorm numbers please?"

"May I have your names ladies?"

"Serena Blanche."

"Shauna O'Connell."

"Let's see, you're both in the same dorm, and that number is 20B. It's on the twentieth floor, furthest from the lift. I've heard it's got the best view onto the beach from up there. We hope that enjoy you and your roommates enjoy it. Be aware the other two are both male, so be aware. Here are your keys," he handed us the brass coloured pieces of metal, the cold touch feeling nice against my hot skin. "And enjoy your last year here. Your things from previous dorms have been moved in boxes and clearly labelled, so you can tell whose is whose."

"Thank you," we replied as we walked off, giggling the whole way to the lift, waiting for the mechanical machine to lift us to our destination. We walked into it and hit the twenty button, and slowly the steel casing we were in trundled up its cables.

"So what is your main subject?" Shauna asked, rubbing her arms in nervousness.

"History of modern conflict. What about you?" I asked.

"Art and photography. I like to paint and edit a lot of stuff." She smiled gently.

"Nice. Drawing is my portray, but I'm not overly good at it. I prefer to bake and cook." I smiled back, trying to make Shauna feel less nervous then she already was.

"Where you from originally?"

"Vaniville Town, Kalos. You?"

"Wow, really? I'm from Santalune City. I'm surprised we never knew each other before." Shauna perked up as we hit the twentieth floor.

"I'm the same. What middle school did you go to?" I asked as we walked out towards the room, now excited that I had met a new friend so early on, and she was from near where I lived, so she would be with me if I flew home at Christmas.

She had no chance to answer the noise that came out from behind from the door of 20B. It sounded like a lot of shouts and scuffles, maybe one of an animal. A sudden bark caught our attention before a loud 'THUMP' against the door in front of us.

I slowly inserted my key and turned it right, hearing the click of the door and pushed it outwards. The scene inside, oh my word.

There slumped on the floor was a brunette male, with dark brown eyes, a strong tall frame and a purple shirt with cargo shorts. At his feet was a ton of animal food, pellets spilt everywhere over the wood floor, and a hyper black and white dog jumping on his feet.

"Oh hey, looks like the females have arrived Charlie. Welcome to the partial Oak residence. My name is Gary 'Muthafucking' Oak, but you can call me Gary. Good day fleshy mammals, I'm glad to be your roommate."


	2. Chapter 2

(Ash POV)

The last ding of the toll of the evening resonated through the coffee shop as the female and her younger brother walked out of the door into the night.

"Thanks for visiting Kukui's!" I called them to which they waved.

That is one of the nice things about being a local family-run business, you create bonds with people and that's what creates the good business.

I sat down on the stool behind me and heavily sighed, worn out and hot. Grabbing the ice cold bottle of water on the counter in front of me, I removed my hat, poured some over my head and drank the rest.

I was glad it was the end of summer coming up, and that school was starting up again. It also meant the last year for my shadow to remain above my head, and it was the last one to get that hard work in, the work that would allow me to enter the draft. The one that would allow me to be on par with Red finally.

Of course, school is important for me, there is no doubt about it, but it's the opportunities that the wider world will give me that I'm looking forward to most.

"All done are we, Ash?" The casual tone of my uncle appeared from the kitchen door behind me. Kukui, his name and proud owner of this fine establishment that we are stood in at this minute, was a renowned man here in Alola, and I was proud to call him my uncle.

Just a pair of shorts and an open shirt was all that he wore year round, even during winter. He was a little insane, especially when he was cooking up a new recipe, not sleeping till it was perfect and then sleeping for around 30 hours straight after.

His kindhearted nature and stature were wonders, especially when there were only a few members of staff here: me, Uncle Kukui (or Kukui just to me), my best friend Gary, and Alex, my little sister when she is off for the summer or holidays from school. We could always do with more staff, but just the four of us can handle it ourselves.

Having family here in Alola was one of the main reasons why I chose to go to Hau'oli for high school, not to mention their offer of being the main player of the basketball squad, the one that they would develop the team around and that all expenses like accommodation and other things.

And it has attracted a lot of attention to me as a player from the media and the teams of the NBA, having had a meeting with the Thunder over the summer, who said I was their main draft target for next year. Not too shabby, especially possibly having the chance to play with the likes of Russell, PG13 and Melo (Hello!), and the chance to join straight out of high school too.

The other was that it was the chance to experience another culture and another place. Even if I had family here, I preferred the dorms at school, and this is what he allowed me to make friends in the past, and hopefully more this year.

"Yo Kukui, I'll see you the weekend!" I shouted as I gathered my stuff to leave.

"Yeah, see you then. If any of your friends need a job, remember that I'm happy to see what they're like," Kukui said after me. "Enjoy school!"

"Yeah, see ya!" I walked out and pulled my phone out of my pocket, checking my social media and apps. The only notification I had was a text from Gary.

 **Dude, never guess what?**

 **What?** I replied, wondering what my friend was on about.

 **Those rumours were right. We have two girls as dorm mates. Just get back safe mate.**

 **Will do.** This was what had been what had floated about on social media about the mixed dorms this year, and I admit, I thought it would never happen, but this might be a good idea. And maybe she is in my one too.

I slowly pulled into the dorm tower's car park shortly after 9, and the amazing views that were a staple at night once again showed off why Hau'oli is a great place in any aspect.

I switched off the engine of my Bentley that Red got me for my 17th birthday, and I admit, it's the best thing I've had in a long time. Sleek metallic orange paintwork, 0-60 MPH in just under 5 seconds, turbocharged V8 engine, a thing of beauty. It has become the resident dorm car for the last 6 months, and I expect it to be the same this year.

You might ask why I seem to have this shadow and how Red managed to buy me a $100K car as a birthday present. The thing is, Red is already a star player in the NBA. He plays at centre, I'm a shooting guard, and he is pretty unstoppable. He is currently playing for the Bucks, and he is on a mission this year. That's why I wanna be the best I can so that we can share the spotlight, and not be in the dark. He's already got a mansion in Wisconsin, and it's amazing not going to lie, but I want that to be me.

You might also ask if Alexandria is 15, is she at Hau'oli High too? The answer to that is yes, but a full explanation is required to understand our situation.

The lift slowly came to a stop, and I walked out, the neon lights on the ceiling lighting my every step to the door of our dorm. It was quite quiet until I unlocked the door and immediately, my Shiba Inu Charlie was at my feet.

Charlie has been my faithful companion before I can even remember. He was a birthday present one year from my parents, must have been four or five years ago now, I can't remember for sure, but those four or five have been the best years of my life.

He has always been there through thick and thin, cheering me up when I'm down and is just generally an amazing friend. Yeah, I know that sounds far-fetched as he's a dog, but still, you get what I mean. I'm glad he's a black and white Shiba, I prefer his colouring to the ginger and white like coat of other Shibas.

"That you, Ash?" I heard the voice of an all familiar friend of mine come from in the lounge area.

I walked into our lounge area, which is decked out with everything you would want in a lounge and more, to see two girls and Gary sitting down on our beanbags, with open pizza boxes and bottles of cola in front of them.

"It's the one and only me, otherwise this little guy," I did scratching Charlie's back.

"Wouldn't have rushed to the door when he smelled me behind it, would he?"

"That's true I suppose." Gary chastised. "Anyway, this ladies, is Ash Ketchum. Number 1 basketball star of the Hau'oli Beach Commandos. And also the number one guy when it comes to helping with your homework, any subject, he'll help you out. Well, apart from cooking, science and computing, because he burns everything in site and can't be asked to be shown up by me."

"Says you who can't tell apart cooking oil and washing up liquid," I retaliated. "But anything you girls need, I can help with. What are your names by the way?"

"I'm Shauna," the small brunette said, who seemed bubbly and a bunch of fun.

"I'm Serena," the blonde replied, with a cute smile, and a nervous look in her eyes. She seems so shy, must have trust and confidence issues. A bit like younger me. I thought to myself. But she does look really pret- don't rush yourself, Ash. You've just met her. It's not gonna be like before.

She seemed to have a bond with Charlie already, as he was lying on her lap, rolled on his back with Serena scratching his belly, a smile on her face.

That smile put an image into my head and a good one at that. I don't totally know, but she is maybe the one in the future...


	3. Chapter 3

(Serena POV)

Another metal door slammed shut, resonating echoes through the hallway. Lockers left, right and centre was being punched, pushed, abused really all around us as we entered the main hallway for our year.

I was still shaking from that maniac speeding down the main road by the beach on our way here. Of course, first impressions play a part, so I really think Ash was just trying to show off. Of course, I know how to drive myself with my own licence, but it's so handy not needing my car out here when Ash has his own.

Don't get me wrong, the car is beautiful really. Leather seats with built-in heaters, which will be perfect for the next couple of months once the temperature drops, lots of leg room, just a comfortable all round job. But Ash was showing off, so he did alright there.

I mean, I certainly don't have any feelings towards him. I don't mean feelings as friends, of course, he's a great lad, open, easy to talk to and the person you can say the toughest stuff to as I found out over the weekend of bonding we all did, but romantically no. Sure, it might be possible in the future that I could in some way shape or form but for now, he's just a friend and dorm-mate.

"Did you enjoy that then?" The certain male I was just talking about asked me as he opened his locker, which coincidentally was somehow located next to me on my right, when it was someone else's last year, meaning they've left or changed location, placing his basketball and some drinks in there.

"What, the drive?" He nodded the response to my question. "Yes, it was fun thanks." Way to contradict yourself, Serena, jeez.

"No problem," he smiled. I don't know what it is about his smile, but whenever he does, it seems to place a paralysis spell on me. Maybe it was that he closed his eyes and went full cheesy, teeth showing and everything, or he just had that one smile.

"Christ Serena, pull your act together. You've only just spoken to the kid for the first time." A familiar voice broke my concentration and paralysis as she opened her locker on my left. The shade of dark blue hair meant it was only one person who it could have been as she wrapped her arms around me.

Dawn Berlitz. My best friend since I've ever known her. Partnered up with me on a languages project once, we were inseparable from that point. The main thing that made us so close was how we met up to do that project.

We decided on the local bakery cafe. As I walked in, she was sitting there tapping the table frantically with her pencil, while looking in the direction of the bar, where I had just ordered myself a drink and slice of cake.

"What are you looking at Dawn?" I asked as I took my jacket off.

"He's sooooooo hot," She whispered, before turning my attention to the barista behind the counter, a light flush on her cheeks. "I'd do very naughty things to him, damn."

"The first part yes," I had to agree the guy was hot. "But not the second part." I sniggered at Dawn's dirty mind as she continued to swoon over said guy, who threw her a cheeky wink.

"You need to be less closed in girl, that's how you can improve as a friend and meeting new people." And that comment is what helped me to come out of my shell. From then on, any project we had, Dawn would always partner with me. She introduced me to her good friends May, Mallow and Clemont.

May Maple is a gluttonous monster, devouring anything in her path. And somehow she stays relevantly skinny the whole time. Probably because she had a little brother to run about after, and is usually out exercising most of her spare time.

She gets that appetite from Mallow Ramsey. Mallow is the greatest cook in the world, no lying. She runs her family restaurant mostly by herself, so is not usually able to come out often, but when she does, do we all have a good time. Recipes and tips fly all over the place between the two of us, while she is also the most carefree person ever.

Finally Clemont Prost. He is my defacto brother. There have always been rumours we were closer then we are, but it's easy enough to understand our situation. Bonnie, Clemont's little sister is so cute and always try to find him a girlfriend, when he always uses his inventions to get his way out of dodge. Did I mention he has a scholarship already waiting for him at uni for robotics? That's been saved for him for the last three years, so we all know he's off to improve the world somehow.

It was the five of us as a group until May and Mallow both got boyfriends, these two being Drew Hayden and Kiawe Alli, who know Ash as good friends. Both are the most chill dudes ever. Kiawe helps run his family farm and does a delivery round of food and papers every day. He can be fiery, but somehow Mallow won him over in the end.

Drew, meanwhile, was the biggest flirt in existence till he got May in the bag. Roses for her every day weren't uncommon, along with small presents and food. She always used to get annoyed at him for it but saw his good side after she relished what those feelings were that she was hiding. So this has been the group for the last two years.

Now with Shauna, Ash and Gary, if they ever want to hang with us, then do a big number, but the more friends we have, the better life we can all have. For now, all that mattered was getting to class, as the bell rang.

"I'll see you at lunch Serena!" Ash called me as he went the other way, Gary tagging with him as I waved behind me and ran to my class with Dawn in tow.

"How have you managed to land Ash? Go on Serena," Dawn laughed as she caught up, giving me a shove.

"I haven't caught Ash for crying out loud," I moaned as we walked into the room and sat at our desks, getting out my laptop I use for notes. "He's simply in my dorm."

"Wait, repeat that again."

"Ash is in my dorm," I told her. Ash had always been seen as the popular boy, but I'll admit, last week was actually the first time I had spoken to him ever. I had always heard the rumours about him being a douche sometimes, but I think it might just be a blockade of his actual self.

"And we will now begin class. Welcome to your last year of English," our teacher Mr Young walked in, causing some other girls in our class to swoon over him. He was known as one of the sweetest and best teachers, and I was glad to have him for the third year in a row.

He always was gentle speaking, hardly ever raised his voice and let us all have fun. His lessons have been some of the best ever, and I honestly can't wait to see how much he has helped me once our exams have finished.

"Yes, we are in luck!" Dawn whispered loudly in my ear as she placed her notebook down, ready to delve into whatever we were going to do. I could only nod in agreement as the PowerPoint came to life on the board.

It had been a quiet day in terms of first days as I walked into my last class before lunch, and my favourite of all, history. I don't know what it is about this subject but whenever I have it, I just seem to do amazing.

I guess it's from reading a lot of history books when younger and watching documentaries. My personal favourite era is the topic of modern conflict. WW1 and WW2, the Falklands, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars and invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. All have different ways in which they have impacted the world, and that's I like about it all. To be able to compare them, see how they differ and why they do, as well as how they planned out, it's mostly just fun to me.

"Aha, so you have this class too?" The main man of the hour sat down next to me in the empty seat on my right. Of course, he had to, looks like fate sorted out my hand and gave me the worst luck.

"Yeah, I suppose you just want my help," I teased Ash, who puffed his cheeks out in annoyance.

"No, I'm very capable of doing history by myself." He slouched back in his chair, his hood carrying itself back over his hair.

"I mean, you didn't have to sit here is all. I told him. "I mean, look Kiawe is over there." I pinged out our dark-skinned friend with the orange highlights in his black hair, who saluted towards us.

"I know, but I'm your friend too aren't I?"

"Yeah, of course, Ash," I poked his cheek as our lovely teacher Ms Ireland came in. I have been compared to her many a time as her daughter, as we look very similar: blue eyes, blonde hair, very young looking (even if Ms Ireland is in her early thirties!) and cheery and timid attitude. That's why we seemed to bond so well as a pair. "I just thought that Kiawe would have been a better option to sit with. I'm not that much of a good talker."

"That doesn't matter Serena," Ash spoke with a light tone as he swept a strand of his hair out of his face. "I like to get to know people, and with sitting here, it's the best opportunity for me too." I could only lightly giggle at the male beside me as he started to scribble down rapidly the stuff that Ms Ireland was blaring out.

(Gary's POV)

The trudge to the cafeteria/restaurant at lunch was a long but exciting one. It was time to go and buy the usual. And by the usual, I mean a Starbucks and a meat feast pizza. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous that we have a Starbucks here, but it's only an outlet, so it's busy as fuck. But it's still Starbucks, so it's a win-win situation if you ask me.

After buying both aforementioned items, I did the usual and sat down at our table. Our table, although not owned rather 'claimed and if you're not Gary or Ash, get the fuck out of here' deal, belongs to me and Ashy Boi.

I honestly felt like the two of us looked like loners most of the time, but Ash had so many younger girls, who are friends with his sister, asking for his autograph or a picture most of the time, that we didn't get a minute's peace. If we did, it was mostly about how his brother played the night before if Red had a game, or about our lives in general.

The thump of his messenger bag on the table alerted me from the heaven that was my iced cappuccino as Ash sat down, looking very worn out.

"Those younger ones been after you again?" I asked as Ash ripped into his chicken sandwich.

"No," he sighed relieved. "But I've just had the most brilliant lesson ever." He said as food dropped out of his mouth, the usual Ash thing. I looked around absentmindedly and saw Shauna sitting by herself drawing in a book of some sorts.

"Yeah, what was that?" Shauna seemed to be in a world of her own, alone. She looked like she didn't mind being alone, although it would some good common respect of me to go and see what was up with her.

"Did you hear what I just said?" A pair of fingers snapped in front of me, breaking me out of focus.

"Uh, what no?" I said as I spotted Serena walking over to Shauna out of the corner of my eye.

"I said that I sit next to Serena in history mate." He smirked.

"So?" I focused back on him.

"Dude, haven't you heard? She's on course to get 100% on every history exam." He exclaimed, rather too loudly, causing everyone to look at us, causing me to snigger as Ash sunk down in embarrassment.

"Dude, that's good then. Ever thought of asking her or in the future possibly?" I asked, looking back towards the girl we were talking about as she consulted our dorm mate.

"I don't know for sure. I mean, she doesn't give me any of those fuzzy feelings yet, but I guess it's called trying to make friends for now." He said as he relaxed back in his seat before the bell rang for next lesson, the second to last of the day.

"What you got now?"

"Addition fucking maths," Ash muttered under his breath. "You, Sir Oak?"

"German faggot. I'll cya later Ashy Boi!" I walked off chuckling to myself as I heard a very angry raven-haired boy shout something back at me as he headed off in the other direction about an oak tree. Not like I gave one though, cause I'm Gary motherfucking Oak, what you gonna do?


	4. Chapter 4

(Shauna POV)

It's weird to think that we had all been in school for a couple of weeks at this point, because to all of us, it hadn't really felt like it.

Of course, we have been supplied homework and have socialised as a dorm, but we are mostly back into our normal routines we've always had.

I have this past week drawn, painted and edited parts of my coursework to hand in at the end of the year, just as some preparation for the months to come ahead.

Gary had done the same as me, apart from the subjects were different. He had already spent most of the week in his room smashing away on his keyboard, doing some programming, other times reading science papers and some small experiments.

Ash had already started training again for the new season ahead, staying back every day to practice his skills with his pedigree and future on the line. Other times, he was out and if he was here, it was spent doing homework or spending time with his dog. Well, technically everyone's now.

And finally Serena. She has been very quiet. Most nights, she'll come in, maybe cook something and then go into her room and not come out till she needed something or was relaxing. She seemed mostly in her own world, but I plan on making her change that.

The four of us had also got a chart together with all of our lessons, and it played out pretty well. Within the four of us, I shared two lessons with Serena, one with Gary and four with Ash. Meanwhile, Serena and Gary shared all but two, Ash and Gary had a couple and Ash and Serena shared two.

Of course, I was glad to have them in my class. It meant I had a really familiar face to talk to in case I ever needed a chat, or if we had a project. With this chart we had set up, we also put down key dates, like birthdays, prom, Ash's meetings with teams and agents, even dates on which we could go see his brother play, and university application deadlines.

It was now Saturday, and slowly creeping into the later stages of September. But with the climate of Alola, it was still in the high teens for temperature, making the atmosphere very nice for being out with friends.

I had nothing to do, and the dorm was mostly empty. Ash had already left by the time that the rest of us had woken up this morning, Gary telling us he was at work. Gary himself had to go and meet up with his family, notably his grandfather, Professor Samuel Oak, about some family business.

Oak was a wise and very nice man and was, funnily enough, the headteacher of Hau'oli Beach. Like Gary, he was interested with science at a young age, and had worked through the ranks of schools back in Kanto, before being given the opportunity to come out here to Alola by his cousin in the government, Samson Oak, the minister for education, to be headteacher of their 'big' new project, which was our school.

A decade back, this block was situated on a car park for an old supermarket, and now it's a multi-story highly modern apartment block. It's weird to think how much Hau'oli had come along as a city since that point. It had one of, if not, the best schools in Alola, and even the world, as well as one of the best holiday destinations Alola had to offer. It was a modern masterpiece and was only going to get better as time went on. I, myself, am very happy to be just a part of this, and I honestly don't know where I would be if I didn't find out about this school when I did.

So it being just me and Serena here today, I thought that I would take the two of us out. Maybe to Kukui's, a very renowned cafe amongst students at school. In the past, it has been a brilliant place to go relax and spend time away, and I really wanted to show it to Serena.

I decided to go look for her. I knew she hadn't gone out, as the last I knew of, she was reading up some article. Walking through the dorm, I finally reached her door and quickly knocked three times lightly with the edge of my knuckles.

"Coming!" Was the swift reply from other side of the door, her sweet and quiet voice resonating against the wood of her door.

The door opened, and a yawning blonde girl with reading glasses on appeared in front of me, standing a bit taller than me. Her blue eyes gave me her full attention as she stretched and her pyjamas stuck to her figure.

"What's up Shauna?"

"Want to go out?" I asked, seemingly rushing my words.

"What," she said, surprised by my obscene outburst. "Sorry Shauna, I'm not into girls, I'm into boys."

"I didn't mean it like that!" I shouted, blushing madly, feeling the heat build up in my cheeks. "I meant, did you wanna go out somewhere with me right now? Maybe go grab a coffee or something?"

"Yes, please. Anything to get my mind off of the algebra I have to do right now is good for me. Please let me get ready." She nodded her head bowed, before closing the door back up.

And that's what we did. After she got dressed, we picked up our bags, gave Charlie a bowl of food and water, locked the door, and left the building. The walk to Kukui's was a fun and relaxing one. The gentle breeze of the sea to our left as we walked in the early afternoon sun gently contrasted against the sun above us as we talked about how the week had gone so far.

"And that's how I ended up designing their wedding invitations." I had just explained how my cousin had asked me to do her wedding invitations in exchange for her helping me with my exams by giving me her revision material. I brought up a quick image on my phone of them, showing Serena the design, and the images of the wedding during the summer that had just passed.

"That looks like it was amazing." She gushed, a big smile on my face. "I wish my wedding looks like that. But I don't think I will have that many friends to have a lot of guests."

"Serena, there's no need to worry about that. You have many more years before any possibility of worrying about wedding guests." I smiled as we arrived at Kukui's. The Alolan feelings at the cafe with the Tiki torches alight outside, and the quiet but ambient music in the background, while people talked made it very pleasant as it always was.

"Wow, you seriously sound like Dawn when you say that...!" I only heard the last words of that sentence as Serena ran off on me. I felt upset as I saw her tackle a very dark blue haired girl in a white beanie from behind, who on reaction, turned around and embraced her. I felt hurt, lonely, lightly jealous of her.

I admit that I haven't had many friends for the last couple of years. I had three really good friends back in Kalos before I moved here: Trevor, Tierno and Chelsea. Tierno is a big stocky lad who liked to dance a lot. He had won many competitions in the local area for breakdance and has been touted for international success when he was older.

Trevor was sweet as you like. He was much like me, loving photography and animals while holding a strong intellectuality like others. Winning awards left, right and centre was his thing, and although I saw him during the summer, I'm not spoken to him much.

Chelsea was as loud and funny as you can be. She always knew how to put a smile on our faces, and she did it with the school too, performing well in many sports, football being her main one. An overall starlet and one I'm glad to call my dearest friend. And then there's that guy too, but I don't talk about him much.

"Shauna?" Serena snapped me from my daydream, as she pulled me to sit down next to her, and opposite of the girl she had just hugged. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah fine. Completely fine," I answered with a small smile, not trying to show the feelings on my face.

"Are you sure?" Serena asked a serious face on.

"Yeah, as I said before, there's no need to worry." I shook my hands to calm her down.

"As I already said, completely like Dawn." Serena moaned.

"You know you love me Sere," the blue-haired girl, whose name seemed to be Dawn. "Dawn Berlitz, pleased to meet you. And you are?" She shook my hand with a light grip, not like the one Tierno had.

"Shauna O'Connell, same pleasure." I squeaked out.

"Shauna, please give me your number, we are gonna be good friends I feel. Please blame Serena for not introducing me to a small but very pretty bundle of energy." Dawn rallied off of her tongue.

"Don't blame me, Dawn. I met her her a matter of 18 days ago. And I haven't had the chance to even properly socialise with her yet." Serena sighed, Dawn sticking her tongue out at her, before turning to me. "I'll introduce you to everyone Monday."

"Thank you." I bowed my head, actually excited to make new friends. I finally felt like I wasn't hiding in the shadows of my pure self anymore. I felt like I was actually nothing when I first joined here. But now I had a reason to go to school and to be more expressive. It was a whole new start for me.

"Serena, Shauna?" A question caught us off guard as we looked up at the owner to the voice who had spoken. We all, Dawn included, looked and saw a bewildered Ash, scratching his brow with a pen and notepad in hand, his orange cap backwards and decked in a blue shirt and black shorts.

"Oh hey Ash, didn't realise you worked here." We all chuckled, making ourselves all laugh.

"Yeah, Kukui is my uncle, so he roped me in when I moved here haha." He seemed embarrassed about it, but I thought it was kinda cool. "Anyway, what can I get you guys?"

(Serena POV)

It had been a couple of hours since we first arrived here and bumped into Dawn. The three of us chatted about anything that came into our minds, and I was happy that Shauna was actually able to socialise with us, and not feel awkward. I hope she can become friends with everyone and doesn't feel left out or lonely anymore.

We were just getting ready to leave as it was getting into the early evening and we all wanted to get home. I had a lot of homework apart from that stupid algebra to finish, and I wanted to get it all out of the way so I could relax. But then a really good idea came into my head. One that would mean I would possibly have to stay a couple hours more, but I honestly didn't mind, as it was going to be so beneficial to me in the long run.

I told Dawn and Shauna to go home, and that I had something to talk to Ash about. They both had a suspicious look on their face, but they didn't see anything out of the ordinary and continued on. Dawn pestered me to tell her what the reason I wanted to stay was, but I told her I would tell her at a later date.

By the time the two of them had left, the cafe was quite quiet, apart from some pensioners reading through the newspapers and some younger kids and their parents sitting outside. I had moved up to the bar front where Ash was situated, standing behind it wiping clean come mugs.

"You wanna buy anything else?" He asked, seeing me sit down in front of him.

"No thanks, I'm fine actually." I shook my head, already knowing that my wallet was pretty thin. "How much longer you on shift for?"

"Another hour and a bit. Why what's up?"

"Is it possible I could ask for a job?" I cocked my head to the side, awaiting an answer.

"Sure, wait here a minute." He placed the mug back in the pile, before heading out the back. A couple of minutes later, he and his uncle came back in, his scrutinising eye casting its gaze upon me.

"And this is Serena." Ash introduced me as Kukui shook my hand, greeting me.

"You looking for a job Serena?" He asked, his calm and soothing tone contrasting the muscle and build his body had.

"Yes please, sir! If it's at all possible." I asked, nervous about his response.

"It's completely no problem, I have just had to lay off an employee who broke my policy. I mean, you can help Ash with the rest of his shift as a trial, and if you do well, I can take your details tomorrow and sort out wages." He smiled. A true and honest person as an owner of his own business is someone I've always wanted to work for, and this was the one. "I suppose Ash can teach you the tricks here, it'll be like how he taught Alexandria when she first started."

"Alexandria?" I was confused by the name, not knowing of one nor hearing Ash mention one either.

"She's my younger sister." Ash piped up, scratching the back of his neck.

A sister? Ash never said he had a sister?


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all of the reviews and follows so far, they give me motivation to write :)**

(Serena POV)

The thought of Ash having a younger sister had lingered on my mind for the rest of that shift and still bugged me as we left his uncle's cafe, both of us a little sweaty and hot. I was so tired and all I wanted was to get a lift home with Ash, go to my room and fall asleep on my bed straight away. We reached his car, and I stood by the door, waiting for Ash to unlock it. But he walked on past, not looking back.

"Ash, where are you going?" I called after him, seeing him turn around to face me.

"There's a subway station literally down the next street. I was going to get that home," he said, pointing behind him to the street behind him. "I'll come get the car tomorrow."

"I don't have any money to pay for a ticket though," I sighed, showing him the contents of my purse.

"I'll pay, don't worry." He smiled.

"You're a life saver, thank you." I smiled back, as I ran a little to catch up with him.

We continued our way on to the next street, one that led into one of the main suburbs of Hau'oli, as the early evening nightlife started to prosper on the streets. Nightclubs were opening, people coming out of the bars on both sides of the street after watching the football (or soccer if you prefer that) from probably the UK or Germany, and cars were coming thick and fast, numerous taxis dropping off passengers on the pavement and picking up new ones on the fly it seemed. This hustle made it hard to keep up with Ash in front of me, not having as long legacies as he did. His towering height made him stick out amongst most people, however, so it was easy to see where he was.

I was getting afraid of losing him, and I grabbed for his hand, missing it. I grabbed for it again, and this time succeeded, grasping his fingers in my own, and pulled myself forward to be next to him as we continued walking down the street.

"You OK there, Serena?" He turned to me and had to look down to see me, showing off his tall frame. I estimated that he was around 6" 2', which explained why he had about a third of a foot in height on me, as I stood at just about 5" 10'.

"Yeah, I just didn't want to lose track of you, with so many more people here than usual," I explained, dragging him forward after spotting the subway entrance just a few hundred metres in front of us.

We soon got there, and Ash placed his back kindly on my lower back as we descended down below the surface. It felt warm like he was a protector to me. It didn't feel like it, I knew it was just an act of kindness to help me down those steps, but it felt really natural. Just the thought of it made me blush a little, the heat of my face increasing with every step towards the platform to take us home. He even stared off the pervert, that according to Ash, was trying to look at my ass, making me even more embarrassed then I was already was.

Our train finally arrived, and soon we were going upwards towards the surface, the neon lights in the distance penetrating the black sky above us. Seeming as me and Ash were all alone in the carriage we had chosen, I turned to him, that one question still on my mind.

"Ash, why didn't you say that you have a sister?" He seemed to sigh as if it was an annoyance. I would have loved to have a younger sibling, a brother or sister I didn't care. But I've never had the chance, due to that thing. If I was Ash, even if his brother was famous, I would still not see having a younger sister as a bad thing.

"Well," he started. "It's kinda a long story."

"It's honestly fine if you don't wanna say," I shook my hands as if to say stop if you want. "Sorry if it's a tough topic."

"Don't worry about it." He said, looking like he needed to get the topic off of his chest. He didn't seem upset at all, he looked like he was slightly hurt. "Alex, we all love her as a sister. She's funny, smart, a good laugh, annoying sometimes, loves shopping, clothes and food, she's a proper normal girl. I just don't have the time at school to talk to her at all is the main thing."

"Then why don't you talk to her at lunch?"

"Because she prefers to hang out with her friends instead of her brother. I think she's also embarrassed as she doesn't have any skill because of mine and Red's fame, it means she's the odd one out. And this has led to some issues in the past." He sighed, signalling something bad must have happened.

"Has she been bullied at all?" I asked, knowing from past experience how she must feel if she had been. His slow nodding and slumped nature confirmed my suspicions, and I instantly felt bad for him. I took his hand in mine and squeezed it, showing that I was there for him if he ever wanted a word.

"I know how she feels Ash," I said as I squeezed a little harder than before. "What she needs right now is for you to be stronger for her, and to be in her life more then you have been recently. Think, she'll be here by herself after this year, what is she going to do if it starts up again?"

"Not much," he muttered.

"Exactly, and promise me you'll make up with her, she sounds really sweet," I said with a small smile, as the train pulled up to a stop at the station we had to get off at. "Come on, they'll be expecting us." We walked off the train to the sight of the beach off in the distance underneath us, and along to take the stairs back down to level ground.

The rest of the walk home was a quiet one, not much being said as we walked side by side looking towards our block. The lift was the only main sound we could hear once inside the building as we began the slow climb up to the top floor. The lights were still on in the hall as we walked out of the lift to our front door before Ash stopped.

"Hey, Serena," he said in a soft voice.

"Yeah, Ash," I said, moving a strand of hair out of my face, cocking my head to the right slightly.

"Thanks for that, just now," he smiled and pulled me into a warm hug. I was shocked, to say the least, I thought he would have just said thanks. But this felt so nice as if it was meant to be. It made me smile and blush, and I wrapped my arms around his waist in return.

"No problem," I said, muffled in his chest. He released me and looked back down at me.

"May I ask something now?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"What you said earlier about feeling how Alex?"

"Yeah..." I knew what route this was going down, and although I was his friend and there for Ash, I wasn't going to open up about that yet.

"Have you been bullied in the past?" I gulped. He hit it right on the head, and I knew I had to stall him for now. I wasn't ready, and I didn't know how long it would take for me to be.

"Do you mind, if I don't want to answer your question at this moment? It's just hard for me to..." His soft finger pressed itself against my lips, stopping me in just a simple action, making me blush and look away awkwardly, turning my feet side to side.

"It's fine, just say when you are." He smiled before walking in and saying one more thing. "As you are for me, I'm there if you need someone to talk to."

That boy was too friendly for his own liking, and a kind one at that he was.

(Ash POV)

That talk Saturday evening on the way home made me feel so much freer and refreshed. I don't what she did, but Serena knew what to say. I guess it was partially my fault for all what happened to Alex in the past, but it was time for me to rectify it for good. That meant introducing her to everyone properly, taking her to school with us, and inviting her over for dinner and other usual things that family do.

And I started that with texting her last night, telling her that I wanted to make amends for the past and that I was picking her up from Kukui in the morning. My mum thought that with me already covered by the school, that Alex would stay with Kukui when at school. She said she enjoyed it, especially as Kukui has a really cool house with a loft conversion and the beach on his doorstep. And he also has another place that I use myself, but I tell you about that at a later date.

This had resulted in everyone being up earlier than anticipated and out the door 10 mins early, and maybe even a little speed limit breaking from myself to get to Alex quick enough to make the trip to school.

We finally arrived, and there she stood outside the door, waiting in a pair of jeans and a jumper, her bag draped over her shoulders. One of the interesting things about Alex is that she looks nothing like me or Red. Us two have black spiky hair like our father, brown eyes and a tanned complexion, as well as small birthmarks that look like lightening just under our eyes. She, however, looks more like our mother, lighter eyes that were hazel, chocolate hair long like my mother's, and her fair skin on top too. However, she is still kinda tall like us two, standing at 5"10', and can give Gary a run for his money any day of the week.

"Hey Ash," she said quietly once she sat down next to me in the front. She seemed very quiet, which was usually abnormal, but I knew she was happy underneath her outer layer of non-confidence.

"You OK?" I asked, placing my hand on her knee in a caring way, with a small smile. She nodded and I drove away to school. She mainly stayed quiet for the journey, just saying hello to everyone else, and even managed a small smile for Gary.

We soon arrived at school, students passing on by as I pulled into park, girls waving at me, even Drew and Kiawe were waiting on the benches nearby, sitting in the backrest, waiting for us to get out.

"You coming, Ash?" Gary asked as he slung his bag on.

"Give me a minute," I shouted back as he nodded and left to go and speak with Drew and Kiawe. I turned to my sister, who seemed more relaxed then she was a matter of minutes ago. "You okay now?"

"I have one question," she said, her sad tone coming through a lot. "Just why has it taken you all of this time, Ash?" She looked at me, her eyes starting to water and swell up. "I'm not on your or Red's level, and to me, it felt that you have never seen me there, and left me there to fend for myself. Why now have you taken an interest in me?"

I was a mix of emotions right now. On one hand, I felt happy that I was being brave and trying to recuperate my relationship with my closest family member, but on the other hand, I was feeling guilty and an idiot for what I had done. As well as others hurting her, I had hurt Alex the most when she needed me the most. Of course, she had Kukui, but as the closest to her, I should have been there instead.

I felt my hand tighten around her leg, a slight wetness on my cheek I could feel slowly sliding down. Soft fingers, one that were ones of my own family, slowly intertwined with my own, squeezing in reassurance it was OK. "You know that blonde girl just now in the back?" Alex nodded. "Serena made me change my perspective on life. She is the one that has sorted this out, and I intend on keeping it this way."

"Good, cause if you don't, I'll tell Kukui, and Serena that you broke her promise..." She grinned as she got out of the car, doing the same as me. "Makeup hug?" I nodded, and she morphed into my frame, leaving only just enough room for me to place my head on top of her and stroked her back.

"Come on, you better go to lesson, come sit with us all at lunch." Alex nodded, and jogged off to go meet her friends, waving as she went.

"Dude, since when have you made up with your sister?" Drew asked as I walked over, taking me in for a half hug.

"Since a matter of fewer than 24 hours ago," I stated happily, as the bell rang for the first lesson. "Come on, I'll explain on the way."


	6. Chapter 6

(Ash POV)

The sounds of the cafeteria beckoned me once more as I walked into it with my food on my tray in my hands. I was thinking about sitting by myself with Gary, but I promised to sit with Alexandria and the others. I saw Serena waving over towards me when I looked up to see where they were, and briskly walked over into a conversation between Dawn and some blonde haired male.

"Dawn, you don't understand. You find the standard deviation of the data first, and then either add or take away 2 x the standard deviation to find your outliers." He sighed, pointing out on the graph what to do.

"Clemont, I don't get it." Dawn smiled with a little laugh, clearly confused by the statistics work.

"Seriously?" I mentioned as I sat down. "Standard Deviation is the main thing you need to know off by heart for stats. It's literally just the mean squared over the amount of numbers, and squared rooted."

"Sorry we're not a smartypants like you, Ketchum," Dawn said, her fiery glare visible, causing me to gulp as she stuck up a finger. "And surprise to see you here and not alone with Gary."

"Well, hi might have been a nicer first word, but OK then," I muttered, my voice trailing off at the end.

"Oh hi, Ash," May smiled bubbly, her split hair swaying gently as she moved her head about.

"At least some of you have manners," I chuckled, only to get a glare from Dawn. "And for a matter of fact, Gary is..."

"Right here Ashy Boi," he cut me off as he sat down beside me. "Oh boy, statistics, loving those dank memes to be honest, lit weed at its finest." He joked as he looked at the work in front of him that Dawn was mulling over.

"I would rather have you piss off right now then joining your friend in teasing me about it. Seems as this scientist who uses graphs all the time can't explain them right to me." Dawn looked away in disgust from the two of us, turning her attention back to Clemont, who looked bewildered and mockingly hurt, holding his fist to his chest.

"Oh thanks Dawn," he mocked hurt.

"Hey no prob," she smiled, causing everyone else to laugh, our eight raucous laughs filling the air above us, seeming as Mallow and Kiawe joined in with us. This felt so nice, as if it was a big family already.

Everyone had their own personal quirks about them, and they each complemented each other with these different quirks of theirs. It felt warm and inviting, just to be a part of this environment I felt, could do wonders to my life, and maybe even help me to improve as a person.

"Hey big brother," Alex sang as she sat down on the other side of me, in a much happier mood then she was this morning.

"Oh, hey Alex," I smiled, and introduced her to everyone. "And finally, this is Serena, the on who helped me change." I smiled, causing said blonde to smile and turned her head away in embarrassment, her face turning bright pink.

"Ash, you think too highly of me," she returned the smile. "And I finally meet the sweet girl that Ash described to me."

It was Alex's turn to blush and be embarrassed now as she shyly put her face into my shoulder. She looked back up with a smile, a smile on her face. "I should really be thanking you, Serena," she said, reaching over and placing her arms around Serena, who did the same back. "For changing this doofus into an actual brother again."

"No problem," she smiled, snickering at me, as I contemplated life and how I might need to run away, a sudden dark cloud of despair from two girls who had evil smirks on their face looking at me. "All jokes aside, when is the first game of the season, Ash?"

Ah, finally, a good topic to divert my mind back to. "It's this Friday evening, 5:30 tip-off."

"You need anymore players, Ash?" Kiawe asked, looking over with importance, seemingly intrigued in our conversation.

"Erm, no I don't think so," I thought, looking upwards as I scrounged the remnants of my brain cells, looking for any info I had. "We're pretty set. Although it would be nice to see you all there with banners and stuff for support."

"I'll make sure they're all there, Ash," Gary said to my left. "I mean, a future NBA star has to have all of his friends and family there for support, I mean, come on, I..."

"Only came to the games last year to flirt with the cheerleaders, jog on Gary, everyone can come on their own accord." I laughed, only for Gary to mockingly square up to me, fists raised.

"You want some?" He asked, jockeying in front of me, causing me to stand up, everyone turning their attention to the two of us. "Cause I'll give it ya!" And it was at that point that the bell rang, leaving everyone else laughing and as they started to pack up and walk to their lessons, leaving Gary with a distraught face, as I patted his back and walked onward towards my next lesson. Oh how fun the rest of the year might be...

(Serena POV)

Another tiresome and overall decent day of learning had passed and I was destroyed. I hadn't had much sleep over the weekend thinking a lot about Ash, as well as being quite excited to start working soon and earning my own money. Deciding against walking home, I decided to go and watch the basketball team practice in the small arena we had for sports. The bleachers were practically empty as I arrived, slowly clambering up them to the top far corner against the wall. I pulled my headphones out and placed them in my ears, playing my music playlist as I quietly worked on an essay due in for homework at the end of the next week.

The players slowly came out of the changing rooms and went through their warm-up and starter drills, before most of the squad went off to do their own thing, whether that be passing or dribbling, while I could spot Ash talking with Coach Shore, presumably about the game Friday night. He looked up and saw me, waving at me, as I smiled back and raised my hand to wave. I focused back to my work as I felt the heat in my cheeks rise slightly.

Did he do that deliberately or just as a friend? Cause if that was any other girl, she would be crying with happiness. Me, that was his first try to flirt with me. And I feel like he succeeded. because he had made me blush from just looking at me.

"What you listening to?" Ash asked as he sat down next to me, sweat dripping down his tanned face, taking out one of my headphones and placing it in his. "Ah, Ed Sheeran, good choice." I was so tempted to reach out and touch his face, wipe his brow clean and send him back to practice more.

"Do you want a drink?" I asked as I pulled some money out of my pocket, getting up to go to the vending machine in the hallway outside.

"Yes, one diet Mountain Dew, please." He smiled as I nodded, swiftly bringing back two drinks, his energy drink and a bottle of fruit juice for myself. I had wondered this for a while now, and I decided to ask him.

"Ash, have you got yourself an agent or anything for next year for this deal with the Thunder to go through?" I asked, tapping my fingers against my knee. "Because, you might get endorsements and contracts to sort out and you won't want to lose focus on your game."

"I have a few options lined up at the minute. Red is wanting me to sign up with his agent so we can have all affairs covered under one roof. Why'd you ask?" He looked at me, seemingly interested.

"I was wondering if you ever wanted me to do it?"

"Wait, Serena," he moved onto the balls of his feet on the row of seats in front of me, taking my hands into his. "You shouldn't be worrying about me and my future. Worry about yourself over me, your future is important too. What is your dream?"

"I," I sighed, knowing it sounded slightly stupid. "I want to be a teacher and give back to others what our teachers have given to us. It's stupid I know, and I don't think I can.."

"That's not stupid at all," he smiled, that killer one that took me to my knees every time he used it. "That's an awesome dream. I really hope you get there, for everyone important to you, not just yourself." I smiled at his kind and thoughtful words. I don't know why I was always doubting myself,I guess I want to do her proud is all.

"Thanks Ash," I hugged him round his upper body, shortly releasing soon after as he smiled, and rebounded back down the bleachers to the court. I felt so fuzzy inside, and I gulped.

It had only taken him a month for him to do it, but it felt amazing. It felt like I was falling for Ash Ketchum...


	7. Chapter 7

**Cause this is meant to be as real life as it can get, this will start to have stronger, more mature themes to be brought in as it goes.**

(Serena POV)

"For threeeeee! Ashton Ketchum!!" We were all up on our feet again as Ash scored again for his fourth bucket of the night. The atmosphere inside the arena at the current moment was astounding. You could literally feel the vibrations of the people next to you clapping and cheering, it was such an amazing feeling. For my first game in a while, I forgot how loud it got inside the arena, but you felt a part of that and that you had to help to raise it even more.

We were up against the Po Town Highlanders in our first game of the season, and although the first quarter had been a close affair, we had pulled out to an 8 point lead thanks to Ash's most recent score. He was leading the team in terms of points so far, with 12, along with 5 assists, 2 rebounds and a steal. And from the way that he was currently playing, I could see why he was wanted so much to enter the NBA from high school instead of college. He was the leader on the floor, and even when he had been subbed in the rotation, he still was encouraging teammates from the bench and hyping the crowd up too.

The sweat that he had built up was soaked into his uniform as he brought the ball up the court again, the white and light grey turning darker from the patches of his sweat. His skin glistened as he made hand movements, asking for movements of teammates and a screen, before driving in towards the basket, faking a layup, and passing back to an open teammate, who increased our advantage even further to 10 as it dropped comfortably. I had to admit, he looked hot in that uniform, to be honest.

"This is a great start!" I said to Dawn beside me, having to shout to be heard over the crowd around us, who were chanting 'DEFENCE' at the top of their lungs with Gary seemingly leading it, seeing as he was standing up with a megaphone at his mouth.

"That's true," she said, turning to me with a smile. "But we've had better first games before. This is correctly a good start though, you're right. If we only could rebound better and pass more fluidly, then I think that we will be better then we are at the minute." I nodded in agreement with her point, as it was very true. The halftime buzzer soon sounded, and I looked up at the scoreboard, the score 48-35 in our favour.

The teams hurried off to the changing rooms for the halftime talk, while many students went to get refreshments for the second half. However, they were all back reasonably quickly, and soon the lights dimmed, leaving a spotlight on Professor Oak, who was at the centre circle, microphone in hand.

"Greetings students, thanks for coming to support your Commandos tonight as they look towards trying to win the championship." He started, cheers emanating from the crowd. "Now tonight is a very special night as this is the first time that the school has decided to do this. Tonight, as you may have or may not have known, we're retiring a jersey number for the first time. The player who we are retiring the jersey of tonight was the biggest star we ever had play for us until his younger brother reached his level, and is doing exactly that at the minute. As well as his younger sister being here as part of this school community, we also thank their mother for helping us a lot. So please, Hau'oli Beach High, welcome back the star of the Milwaukee Bucks, Red Ketchum!"

Wait, did Ash know his brother was coming tonight? Because if not, he's in for a surprise. I suppose I could say the same about Alex, as she left her seat behind me, and ran down to the court, screaming Red's name as he walked into the light, Red turning to her and catching her as she tackled him into a hug, with her starting to cry.

I finally got a good look at Red, and you could tell he was Ash's brother, seeing as he was an almost splitting image. Same shaggy tar black spiky hair, tanned complexion, tall as hell, muscles built up in the right places, those deep brown eyes, and a relaxed nature. The only main difference that I could make out was a sleeve of tattoos down Red's right arm, swirling down to his wrist. He waved to the crowd as Ash came back into view, seeing his brother in what must have been the first time in a few months. The two shared a quick hug with a hand on their shoulders, before Red spoke.

"Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. To have my number retired is a massive honour, especially at my age. Every time you have a game, it's so my best to watch it online, and there's some incredible talent in this squad. I look forward to watching more in the future, and if you are playing, just look into the rafters, and use my number as inspiration, as I've done so many more things in my life since I made the leap to professional levels. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the game tonight and I wish you all the best for the future. Go Commandos!"

The same cheers rose up again as the lights slowly focused up into the rafters as the cover draped over the number slowly fell to the ground, leaving a jersey with the number 96 and name Ketchum emblazoned on the back of the home jersey. Red swept a small tear away from the corner of his eye as he waved back to the crowd once more before going back to his seat. It would be interesting to talk to him later and see how Ash was at home back in Kanto because this special kid was getting more and more intriguing to me with every second I spent with him.

(Gary POV)

It was quite busy once we got back to the dorm. We had decided to invite Red over, as well as Dawn, Drew and May. Alex hopped over with Red so that the car wasn't congested as we drove back.

Once we did, it looked like an IED had hit our apartment. By the time that Drew and May had left at the end of the night, bottles were all over the floor, crisps and other food were scattered across the couches and tables, and the stench of alcohol was riff.

I could only remember ending up laying on the long couch come 11:30, with Red, curled up with Alex in his arms, sucking her thumb in her sleeping state in the small armchair, while Ash was hiccuping constantly with Serena checking his every move, making sure he didn't puke everywhere.

Shauna would have been glad she didn't come home tonight as she would have hated the current situation the place was in. Luckily, she decided to stay at another friend's house for the night and would come to help clear up in the morning.

As for Dawn, that female was in my arms, slowly and lightly breathing as she slept. I felt a little embarrassed as I felt her bust push into my chest, but at the same time, it was nice and get natural. Her hair, the deepest and darkest of midnight blues, was soft under touch and nice to run my fingers through. Her eyes, I have to admit, were amazing too, and her smile seemed to brighten up anyone's day, even if she had a short fuse and could turn feisty in a tenth of a second.

"You going to try and graft, eh Gary?" The soft voice of Red with a slight chuckle carried over the room, a smirk developing on his face.

"Don't think I should, I've kinda already given a bad impression of myself," I smiled, only a little one, knowing that I had a lot less chance than before.

"Nothing a talk can't sort out Gary," Red spoke softly, scratching his arm as Alex snuggled further into him. "You better head to bed, Ash'll want you up for work at dawn tomorrow knowing him."

"We've all booked this weekend off. He plans to go sort out the cabin for when we go there next weekend for break, and I have homework and important stuff for Gramps to finish off. But what are you going to do?" I asked as I sat up properly, stretching my arms behind my upper back. "Tonight I mean. You can't drive in your condition."

"I'll sleep here. I'll put Alex where you are currently and this armchair will do me fine. Dawn should be your main worry." He motioned to the blunette in my arms, who was fast away in dreamland.

"I'll sort something out. Probably will make a pillow partition and get some sleep, even if it isn't good. Night guys." With a 'g'night' from Red, and mumbles from Ashton and Serena, I walked out the lounge to my room.

As soon as the motion LED lights lit the room up in a dim dark blue, I set Dawn down on my bed, before I quickly grabbed a change of underwear and entered the bathroom. Just walking back in my boxers, I realised I had to strip off Dawn's clothes. This had to be the most awkward thing I had done for a while. Slowly and as carefully as I could, I gently lifted her legs up to get rid of her short pink skirt. Underneath, a silky pair of lacy lime panties with black linings breathed air as I placed her skirt in the corner near to my desk on my gaming chair, before sitting her up against my backboard so I could take her top off for her. However, as I went to grab the waistline of it, she sprung awake and instantly looked downwards.

The next two seconds consisted of a loud crack, a small scream and a cry of massive pain, followed by a tumble onto the floor with a slam. As I slowly raised my head up, the lights fully brighten as Serena walked in to see me on the floor, holding the right side of my face as it started to swell, while Dawn started bawling in hurt and embarrassment, pulling my duvet up against her body.

"You sick pervert Gary Oak! Wait until your grandpa hears about this!" She shouted, ice running through her voice as she lunged for me, Serena diving in front of her in midair stopping her, only for her to lash out and try to grab my hair. "Let me at him Serena, he deserves to be hurt."

"Dawn, you're drunk, calm down. He was trying to help you was all, he was giving you a space in his bed and help you get ready for bed, he means no harm!" Serena shouted at Dawn, who stopped her actions and then cried into Serena's arms, who turned to me and mouthed 'are you alright?', to which I nodded as I slowly walked out to the bathroom once more, looking for a bag of ice along the way.

Entering my bed fifteen minutes later, a heavy silence clouded it over as I sat up against it, Dawn doing the same on the other side, dressed in her lime and black underwear.

"Sorry," she slowly said as she turned to look at me. "I didn't realise, and I shouldn't have had as much to drink as I did. I've sobered up now, but my head a little." She giggled. "It was also natural instinct and reaction so sorry. How's your face?"

"It's fine now thanks, you've got a strong hand. I'm sorry too, I should've woken you up first." I smirked, as her soft delicate fingers touched the swelling, the synapses in my neurones going into overclock mode as the heat slightly started to come back.

"Is there ever any way I could make it up to you?" She smiled, with 'that' look in her eyes, the look of lust, need and temptation, her tone turning sultry as she shimmied over towards me.

I turned to look at her, smiling as she moved closer, her figure seeming to stand out against the moonlight pouring through the furnaces sand that were the windows of my balcony. All the pain seemed to leave my body as she sat in my lap, her other hand touching the other side of my face, as my hands naturally moved to her hips, the soft silk doing wonders with my skin as they slid up them. "I mean, I and Ash are going to his family's cabin next week on Akala Island like we usually do for Autumn Break."

"Go on," She whispered in my ear, her warm breath and voice sending my head into overload as she ground against my lower body.

"We usually have Drew and Kiawe come too, but both Mallow and May are going to see their family in other regions, and want to introduce them. We were going to invite Shauna, but she is going back to Kalos, so at the minute, it's me, Ash and Serena. Wanna come with us?"

"I don't have anything to do Autumn Break yet, and it's too expensive to get flights back to see my mother in Sinnoh when I've already got plans for Thanksgiving, so I'd like to. Plus, we could maybe do this more..." Dawn smiled as she leaned forward and placed her lips on mine.

They were soft, juicy and wet as she held onto my face, her tongue, the fastest moving muscle after only the eyelid, swept itself across my lips and she fought for entrance. I wasn't going down without a fight, pushing mine back against hers as she pushed her body into mine more. I finally gave in and she smirked against my face as she entered my mouth, her tongue moving in synchronisation with mine as they wrapped around each other.

She soon had to part ways to breathe as she lifted up, a small strand of saliva forming a bridge of emotions between us. She cuddled her head into the crack of my neck, kissing and slightly biting the connection between my collarbone and throat area.

"I sure could get used to that a lot," I smiled, as I ran my hands through her hair rut again. "But it's too early to do anything official. We need to talk more on friendly terms more and speak more, this isn't going to be a straightaway thing, you understand."

"Yeah I do," she looked up to me once more and placed one quicker, chaste kiss on my lip, only for around three seconds before placing her head back down. "I look forward to what you offer Gary. Goodnight." And with that, she settled down on my chest, a small smile still there as she went back to her slumber.

All I can say, Red was right. Dawn would be the ideal girlfriend for me...


	8. Chapter 8

(Ash POV)

Waking up this morning was the biggest struggle I had for a while as the sun leaked in, my phone beeping with every Snapchat, message and notification I was getting. Every bone, muscle and organ was feeling the effects of a massive hangover, and with what we were doing today, I knew I had to shake it off quick.

Walking into the kitchen, I saw Red already in there, cooking himself and Alex, who was sitting at the island, Charlie in her lap making her laugh as he mucked about, some eggs, toast and sausages.

"Guys," my hoarse voice spluttered out, leading me straight to the fridge for a cold glass of chocolate milk.

"Jeez Ash, you look and sound dead." Alex laughed as Charlie scurried to my feet, only for her to quieten with my death stare.

"Thanks, I already didn't know that," I said, sitting down next to her, Charlie trailing beside me.

"C'mon, don't snap at her like that," Red sighed as he delivered the plates of food in front of us, and placed a couple more slices of sausage in Charlie's bowl. "She was only saying."

"Whatever..." I mumbled, diving into my food. "Got any more news concerning agents Red?" I said through my food, chunks of proteins flying everywhere.

"Yes, we've got a meeting scheduled for around a month's time. It's in Milwaukee, so you'll have to fly out." He told me, sliding a resumé in front of me. "We'll have a meeting with Allie, Jude and the team to sort everything out, and then once this year is over, we can see what happens."

"Fair enough, sounds good." I smiled, that making today good so far. "Have you got anything else you wanna do before you head back to Wisconsin?"

"I would like to see Kukui before I had back. And seeing as we need to take Alex home, and you are going to Akala, we all should go together." He smiled, tucking into his own food.

"Morning," Serena walked in, looking happy and joyful, a massive spring in her step. "You OK now?" She asked concern written over her face and voice as she sat next to me, pinching a slice of toast as she did.

"Gucci," I signalled with an okay sign. "You ready for later?"

"Just need to get into my stuff, and then I'll be. We going to be gone all day?" She asked hints of excitement in her voice.

"Yes, I think we will. I'm gonna get Gary up so he can start cleaning." I left and headed to his room, the floor creaking slightly underfoot.

Arriving at his door, I knew he had Dawn stay in his room the night before, and being the prankster I could be, I decided to do the first thing that came to mind when a teenage boy and girl share a little thing called a bedroom.

"How was she, Gary?!" I ran in, beelining to his window, and pulling the curtain across, the sunlight beaming in right onto his face. He groggily opened his eyes, slightly moving Dawn out of his neck region. Dawn opened her eyes to see me there, freaked out and pulled the covers over her.

"We didn't do anything, I swear we only kissed!" She frantically whispered out. "Please don't tell Serena, Ash. She would never shut up."

"Alright, no worries. Just hurry up, we want to get going and your breakfast is ready too." I walked back out to the kitchen.

"Dawn gave Gary a massive hickey on his neck," I whispered to Serena as I walked by her, causing her to giggle. "Don't point it out till they're in here."

"Let me do it," the reply as I sat back down. The two kissers walked in, Dawn in one of Gary's oversized workout shirts and some drawstrings shorts she had to put a bow in to keep up. Both had small dark bags under their eyes, and Gary almost fell asleep once he placed his head on the food bar.

"Is that a hickey on your neck Gary?" Serena snickered, silently high fiving me under the bar as she pointed at his neck. "I thought you only kissed." That was my cue to leg it to my room, pulling Serena along with me as Dawn looked at me with evil, before leaving her seat, the two of us laughing as we locked my door, and slid down behind it, the adrenaline starting to wear off.

"Why was she like that?"

"I said I wouldn't tell you about them two making out with each other, I didn't say I wouldn't point out Gary's hickey, and that you'd work out the rest." I smiled dumbly with a small thumbs up, before receiving a small shove in the shoulder followed by another of her brilliant laughs.

"How am I going to be able to get ready now then? I need to get out of these," she moved her hand over her tank top and shorts, which fitted her curves and body really well. That's one thing I would give to Serena, she had a really nice body all around. "Into something more comfortable for walking and swimming in."

"I've got a plan." I pulled my phone out and called Alex on FaceTime, who picked up immediately. She placed her earphones in and soon showed herself to us.

"What's up?" She spoke quietly.

"Can you go into Serena's room and grab her some clothes?" I spoke back. She nodded and left the kitchen.

"Which room?"

"Furthest one from the main door. It has lemon coloured walls." Serena took my phone and guided my sister through what she wanted, where it was and that we were in my room.

I could see a sister like relationship being built up between the two of them, and it would be a strong one too, like if they were actual siblings.

A knock on the door soon came, making us move out the way as Alex walked in, a bundle of clothes and swimwear in her hands.

"Dawn calmed down yet?" I asked, worrying if the ravaging blunette was in the vicinity.

"Gary took her home. Red needs to get going soon so we need to leave now."

The strong salty breeze was a small delight as the water lapped over the side of the boat as we powered through the Melemele Sea towards the north of Akala Island. The sun beamed down on the two of us as I gently increased the speed of my family's speedboat, that yet again, came courtesy of Red.

It's usually docked outside Kukui's home and is quite quick. It's one that you would usually see being used in Monaco or St Tropez. It wasn't expensive expensive, only coming in at $20000, and was a sleek black with silver details on the leather and decal. It had enough space for four passengers as well as space on the front for two more to sit on top of.

And that was where Serena was sat right now, smiling as her hair trailed behind her in the wind, her face gleaming. Even if it was coming to the end of October, Alola's climate made it still relatively warm, temperatures usually peaking at 22 degrees Celsius. Meaning it was good beach weather and Gary's weather for usually trying to hopelessly flirt with bikini babes.

Speaking of said girls who he would seem to be bikini babes, I had one in my eyesight. Decked out with sunglasses and her hair flowing down her back, a floppy straw hat on top, Serena had put on her turquoise and black bikini top, with a short skirt going to her lower thigh, white in colour and then sandals. She did look cute, denying that would be absurd by any male.

"How long have we got to go?" She lifted her sunglasses up to look at me, her eyes reflecting excitement, a small smile on her face, the freckles around her nose standing out against her pale skin.

"It is right there." I pointed to the dock about a mile in front of us, sticking out of the small beachfront we had.

We pulled up and moored in, before lifting the bags of food we had brought with us out of the boat, and walked up the walkway to the front of the house.

"This is amazing..." she said once she saw the front of it. It was amazing, to be honest, not boasting. Before the incident with Dad, he and Kukui had gone half and half on buying this place.

The two brothers bought this when Dad came back from his longest tour and had a long break, and a couple of years after Alexandria was born. They changed it from a log cabin that had been run down into a villa that was mostly up to date.

Kukui had struggled for a few years when it was only him being able to keep it clean and tidy, but as I and Red grew up, we started to help him. It now mostly comes under my hands, seeing as Red has moved to Wisconsin and Kukui had his cafe to run, but they did help in the summer.

They had got rid of the mostly wooden structure and changed it to half wood, and half brick. It was still only one story high, but it had changed from a two bedroom place to five.

We had built a swimming pool off the back and created a small gym in the basement, as well as making a basketball court in the back garden. We had had many a fun time here before, and when we were all grown up, we planned on coming back here with our kids.

"It sure is. Come on," I pulled her along slightly, trying to remove her out of her current state. Gently, her right pinky curled slightly around my left, as I guided her into the kitchen.

This felt like I was taking her out for the first time like we were dating. She was my girlfriend, I was her boyfriend. This was the first holiday we were taking as a couple, but it wasn't, we were just close friends. Just friends (for now at least), but sometime in the future, it could change.

We soon had finished cleaning the place up and had made the beds for next weekend. The two of us retreated to the pool outside, and sat down on the edge, our feet lightly dragging through the water as the sky started to turn a light orange as the sun slowly started to go beyond the horizon.

The air felt thick, our hands down by our sides next to each other, a couple of centimetres apart as we drank our beers.

"Let's play a game, Sere," I said, finishing the last sip of my current beer. I stood up and got two more for us as I sat back down next to Serena.

"Sere?" She asked, looking at me with a small blush on her face. Shit.

I admit it was the nickname that I had on my mind for her whenever I was trying to think of one for her.

"It's a nickname I thought of," I scratched the back of my neck like I'd usually do if I got into a situation I didn't wanna be in.

"It's nice, thank you." She whispered, placing her hand on top of mine and squeezing gently, the usual thing she did to say everything was alright. "What is this game then?"

"Question game. 8 questions each. You must answer. We won't finish today, anytime you wanna play, just say."

"Any question?"

"Yeah. I'll start if that's ok?" She nodded as she took another swig of her beer. "What were you bullied about?"


	9. Chapter 9

(Serena POV)

As I stood there against my balcony ledge, looking out the window at the beach and people bustling about in the small businesses, I thought about what we had spoken about last night, and it felt like a weight on my heart had been lifted.

I could only give Ash so much credit, but that amount was an unbelievable amount, of respect, dignity and full honesty with me. And I guess that's why I felt like I was falling for him so quickly.

 _Last night_

 _I knew as soon as he had suggested this game that Ash would instantly go for the bullying question._

 _He wanted to get to know me, possibly more than as more then a friend, and I suppose this had to be the first barrier I had to overcome if I wanted a chance._

 _And it would be the same with him if he wanted a chance with me. If this was to work between the two of us, he would have to be as open to me as I was about to become with him._

 _The lump in my throat began to develop as I started to remember what happened over all of those years of torture and pain._

 _"Ok, here goes." Breathing in and out slowly but heavily, I looked at the sun descending beyond the horizon. "When I was younger, I had both of my parents._

 _People used to say that I had the looks and kindness of my mother, Grace, and the personality and sharpness of my father, Jules. The two of them had met at university and hit it off instantly. With my dad growing up in the Caribbean, his family originally coming from the south of France, hence the surname of Blanche, which is white in French, he had to work hard, and soon, he managed to get himself into Kansas._

 _There, he met my mother, her doing veterinary, him business. They met at a party one night and hit it off from there. The day they received their degrees, he proposed._

 _Over the next two years, they had got married, my mother had found a job, had suffered an unfortunate miscarriage, and finally, I arrived._

 _Being the only child was nice and lonely at the same time. It meant I had the full attention of my parents and did get spoiled rotten sometimes, but it was quiet without any siblings. I had cousins and other family, but it was rare for me to see them._

 _In the early years of my life, my dad had set up his own property company, JB17, which prospered immediately, serving the wealthy looking for urban dwellings and developments._

 _We moved from Kansas to Kalos when I was around 9. I was very quiet, and with not many friends at that time, I was bullied for being an outsider. It also came from being wealthy and everyone thinking I was stuck up when all that I wanted to have were friends._

 _It was at this time that my dad had sold part of his company and turned my family's worth into the millions. He used some of this money to help my grandparents back in the Caribbean develop their house and reimburse the local community, while the other lot was split between my inheritance and the family in general._

 _It was at this time however when Mum began to become ill," I took another gulp as the memories started to flood back. The ones I always tried to keep to the back of my mind._

 _"You don't have to continue if it's too much," Ash moves closer and rubbed my arm._

 _"No," I argued. "It'll be better for me to get it out."_

 _"What was the illness?" He asked, the look of guilt and sorrow in his eyes and voice, the voice people used to feel sorry for others._

 _"It was a late stage brain tumour." One slow tear started to run down my face. "I was eleven when it was found, and it was almost my parents' thirteenth anniversary._

 _She was rushed into surgery after collapsing at her vet surgery one afternoon, and although they removed most of the tumour, it had spread to her heart and lungs. Slowly over the next few days, she got weaker and weaker to the stage where she could hardly stay awake._

 _Dad pulled me out of school for her last few days, and I spent the whole time with her. Day and night, I was sat on her bed, reading to her, talking about the most random topics, until one night, I went to grab something to eat, and by the time I got back to her, she was gone."_

 _"Oh shit, Sere, I'm so, so sorry." By now, the waterworks were in full stream, tears dripping into the pool underneath me as the image of Mum sleeping peacefully and without pain anymore flashed in front of my eyes._

 _A strong chest became my resting place as I cried into Ash's chest, his hand running through my head._

 _My tears soon stopped as I pulled myself back up, wiping my eyes, and began to speak again. "Dad looked like he took it well on the outside, but on the inside, I knew he was distraught. He had lost the mother of his only child, and the love of his life._

 _It didn't help where the bullying at school ramped into the final gear either. It had gone from being excluded from everything and some names to vileness like 'cancer girl', 'no mum' and comments like 'she deserved it for loving the rich guy'._

 _The pain and hate were too much, and I started to hurt myself to get rid of it." I showed Ash the inside of my right arm at the scars from my induced self-harm, the reminder of how far I had been pushed. His cool fingers ran over the surface of them as the lights around us turned on, leaving the two of us in a gentle hue of light._

 _"My dad walked in on me once when I was doing it, and he immediately brought me into a hug, whispering he didn't want to lose me too. That was when he decided to send me to school aboard for high school._

 _As soon as I finished middle school, he brought me out here, and I fell in love with it at first glance. And here we are 3 years later…" I smiled as I relaxed, leaning back on my hands._

 _"That sounds rough," Ash sighed next to me. "I kinda had it like that with my dad, apart from the bullying part. He was the one who had actually bought this place in the first place."_

 _"What happened with him?" This is what I meant by getting to know him, to delve into his history and find out what made Ash Ash._

 _"He was in the SEALS, and that's how he met my mum, seeing as she was in the Air Force in the operations department. He had been on numerous missions, and after Mum had left the Air Force to look after me, Red and Alex, he would be gone one to three months at a time. He had been on many of the main missions in Iraq, Syria and Northern Africa._

 _It was about three years ago that he had been scheduled to retire at the end of the year, and he would have been back home with us. His second to last mission, his squad was raiding a known stronghold of some affiliate terrorist group when they found the HVT, who had taken kids hostage, threatening to kill them if they came any closer._

 _Chaos ensued and the HVT was dead, and the kids saved."_

 _"But your dad had taken the bullet meant for them and died." Ash nodded as he looked at the sky. "That makes him a hero Ash, you should be proud."_

 _"I very much am so proud of him, even if Alex and Red didn't take it well. Red almost pulled out of going to the NBA, but Mum persuaded him to do it, saying it's what Dad wanted him to do. Alex, meanwhile, would break down at his name or have a panic attack, and used to have really bad nightmares for a while after that. It was rough, but we're all over it now, and we move on with life."_

 _"Sounds like he was an amazing guy," I mumbled._

 _"He sure was…" Ash whispered back._

 _We got up and went to enter inside when I remembered it was my turn to ask a question. Ash had almost got inside when I shouted his name._

 _"What's up?"_

 _"Question game quickly."_

 _"Go ahead."_

 _"My dad is meeting me for dinner next week, and he is bringing his new girlfriend with him, as he wants me to meet her. He said I needed a date, so…" I looked up at him with my lower lip behind my top teeth, a small smile on my face. "Can you come with me?"_


	10. Chapter 10

(Ash POV)

"Ow, don't pull so hard Alex, that hurt."

"Cut ya hair then ya idiot!" Alexandria shouted through gritted teeth. "And stop fucking moving. I'd hate to be your wife in the future if she had to do your hair."

This frantic scuffle was taking place in my room as I was finishing off getting ready for the meal that I had to go to with Sere.

At the moment, I had my sister dragging her fingers through my hair, gel sticking the damp strands together into a mix of a slicked down and spiked style.

"Remember to have manners, and to not eat with your mouth full," she reminded me. She was sometimes like mine and Red's mother, not our younger sister, always telling us what to do, and how to behave in certain situations. This was her more mature yet aggressive side that she also showed sometimes with boys who flirted with her, Gary usually being the main recipient of that torture, seeing as his ego with girls was to the moon and back, but if he was with Dawn now, he'd mature more, finally.

As soon as she had heard about this, Alex had demanded Serena to let her fix me up for this date. The same happened with Serena, only Dawn and Shauna had insisted on being his makeover specialists.

Of course, I had to take advice from Gary, who insisted on helping me with this, and I had told him that I'd be fine, but he pulled up the classic line 'it's the first one with her'. Sure, I had been on dates plenty of times before, but as Gary quite rightly said, I couldn't screw it up, especially as its meeting her father for the first time too.

"Done." My mind snapped back to Alex's voice breaking the train line it was travelling down.

I looked into my mirror and adjusted a few stray hair across my fringe that were dangling down in front of my vision.

A crisp short sleeved light grey dress shirt, short leather pencil tie, black jeans and a pair of suede dress shoes, along with a navy blazer was what my sister had put together for me for the night, and she had made a pretty good choice.

"Thank you for this." A short hug showed her my gratitude as we exited my bedroom, walking into the lounge as we waited for Serena.

"Looking good Ash, she'll be really impressed." Shauna smiled as she applied some ointment to Gary's arm, the mug having burnt himself with some chemicals during Chemistry today as he winced.

Albeit, we were mucking about with potassium peroxide and rhubarb for experiments and he decided to chuck some water on my book, me grabbing the nearest thing to me which happened to be a pipet with the chemical init. Funny though, innit? I did chuckle at the time, only to receive a detention for it, making the process I just finished a small rush.

"You ready, Ashton?" The voice of a certain navy haired female reached my ears as she walked into the room, looking behind her, with Sere there seemingly.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Scratching my cheek, I smiled, the nerves starting to show. The muscle pumping the blood through my body slowly increased its pace, the reverberations pulsating throughout my body as the nerves slowly filtered.

It was like the rest of the world had shut down, visually and sound wise as the almost silent footsteps of Serena flooded into my ears.

My eyes couldn't believe why they were seeing it seemed, as they widen in surprise, and the gasps of everyone around me met my own reaction.

There she stood, fingers fiddling with the hem of her dress, her head down facing the floor, her own nerves setting in. I had to pull my imaginary hat off to the two girls who had helped her because they had done a wonderful job.

The long sleeved material, which looked like a soft cotton, a rich blue in colour, moulded against her arms as it finished just above her wrist. It petered downwards as it went down her body, finishing with the skirt cutting off just below her knee, and had a couple of pieces cut out the back, revealing some of her creamy alabaster skin. Her feet adorned themselves in some white flats, while her long caramel hair framed her petite face, slightly curled towards the bottom, while half was pulled upwards into a ponytail.

"Wow, it looks really good on you, Serena." I again scratched the rear of my neck, the most common reaction of mine whenever I was nervous.

"Thank you, Ash," she turned away, heavy blush showering on her face.

"Come on lovebirds, time for your date. Ash, remember to be polite and give the lady all of the credit, especially in front of her father, and Serena, remember to respect your father's decisions in life, especially if he has found someone new that he loves. Now go!" Being shoved out of the door by the girl that had helped Serena so much, and had seemed to have Gary now on a leash, was similar as it felt like being pushed towards achieving my dream by my mother and the spirit of my father, and I had some much more gratitude now for Dawn, even if we didn't get on all of the time.

(Serena POV)

The drive to the restaurant was a quiet affair, as the tension in the car was rather high. Not much was said, nor was much said when we arrived, spotting my father as we pulled up at the valet.

The woman next to him was tall, just a bit shorter than both my father and Ash, about six foot dead on. Her hair was a very straw blonde, very golden, unlike my dad's ginger spikes, spikes that at times were worse than Ash's own wild ones.

"Serena darling, welcome." His rich voice with his now slight Caribbean accent filtered the air, his green eyes behind his glasses lighting up, as I hugged him and exchanged kisses, a long one at that, and the familiar scent of his cologne filled my nostrils. "Please meet Cynthia."

"I've heard so much about you Serena, I'm pleased to have finally met you." Her smile was bright and she seemed really friendly, and if my father was in love with her, she would not be a bad stepmother from first impressions as she shook my hand, her grip strong and firm.

"Pleased to meet you too," I said, my hand meeting the small of Ash's back as I gently judged him forward towards Dad and Cynthia. "This is Ashton, he's a good friend and dorm mate of mine."

"Please call me Ash." Ash smiled as he shook my father's hand and hugged Cynthia.

"I've seen your progress so far Ash, it's been very good, your brother is an excellent player too." The two males took off together, talking amongst themselves as they walked towards the entrance.

"He's really excited to see you tonight," Cynthia told me as we trailed behind them, causing me to turn my head to her. "He's got that spring in his step that he had when in a really good mood."

I nodded. "He's usually like that when he sees me. And this is the first time in about 3 months that he has, so it's nice to see him. He looks quite well and better then he usually is."

As we walked up to the front of house, I and Ash saw a familiar sight, one that was not one that we usually saw nor heard of.

"Welcome to Costa Del Verde, how many... Ash? Serena?" Mallow's shocked voice spat out, as she sorted her waitress outfit out. "Seats for four, okay then. And everything is on the house, don't worry about paying." She guided us to a table on the second floor, overlooking the main marina of Hau'oli City.

For the next couple of hours, the four of us enjoyed our meal, and spoke about many different topics, including Ash's dreams, my own plans, Cynthia's job as an executive CEO in an international shipping company, as well as how she had been married before, but divorced after she was cheated on. Even at 36, she was a beautiful woman and still could even become a...

"Pregnant?" The exclamation in my voice exerted the shock in my mind at the event I just got told.

That's right, I was to become an older half-sister. At the age of 17. It wasn't that bad, it would mean that I would finally have a a sibling, even if they were only of half blood to me, something I had been desiring for most of my life, but it was the shock of it being late in my life, that I was almost an adult, and would double their age for most of my life.

"That's right. It's due in about 4 months time," Cynthia smiled, running her hand over her stomach. "It was a surprise honestly, but we really want this."

"Can I take a couple of minutes?" I got up and ran downstairs and outside to the front, and sat myself down on the steps.

"You ok, Serena?" I turned my head to see Mallow sit down beside me, carrying two glasses of white wine. "My shift is almost over, and I still haven't had my break, so Dad let me finish early. You look distraught." She wiped the years that had formed in my eyes, and placed her arm around me, pulling me into her offering me one of the drinks.

I took a long swig of the sharp but fruity alcohol, the sugars starting to flow through my body with each sip. "I'm fine."

"You're conflicting with your true feelings," the green haired girl shook me, pulling me round to face her. "You're saying you don't want this to happen, yet on the inside, you are loving the chance to be a sister. You say you're set for the future, yet you're scared of if you'll keep in contact with us. And don't even get me started with Ash."

"I like him only as a best friend." I defended myself, pulling away from Mallow, raising my voice, a look of madness in her eyes.

"You know that's a lie." She stood up and looked down at me. "You love him."

Sorry for the delay in release, I've had a lot of exams recently, and have been ill too. But I've pretty much secured a job now and should be working soon, meaning it might be a bit of a gap again. Sorry, but I hope you enjoyed.


	11. Chapter 11

(Gary POV)

I don't know if it was coincidental that he had to be flying back today, but today was Ashy Boi's birthday, the first one out of us all to reach the ripe age of 18, bar Kiawe, whose birthday was before the start of term in early September.

This whole day had been planned out since the day that Ash left for Milwaukee, which was last Thursday, today now being Friday. It mainly had been planned out as a massive party to have a lot of people at, but as we looked into it further, we decided against that and decided to cut down the limit from almost 100 to just over 50 people, a reasonable amount for a party, especially as the situation at school at the minute wasn't helping most people.

It was mock exam season, and many people were using their free time to revise and go over their last-minute arrangements. This meant was a reason for many people who had said they had revision to do for it, which was a fair enough reason. But, damn, did we make it sound like it was going to be good...

(Flashback to Tuesday)

We were just finishing our shifts, Serena and I when Dawn and Shauna both walked into Kukui's, who promptly sat on the stools in front of the bar.

"Gary," Dawn started, in her tone that meant she wanted something, and that something to be then and not later. Her tone demanding already, she began to slide her forefinger down my arm, the ones holding the mug I was cleaning in my hand, her eyes fluttering.

"Yes," I droned out, not at all paying attention to her, smirking as the pout formed on her face. "What is it?"

"You know that it's Ash's birthday this Friday, the day that he's due back," she continued.

"Yes, and what?"

"Can we throw him a party?" With everyone in the year there?" She used her puppy eyes, Shauna next to her doing the same, while Serena continued taking orders from other customers while trying to eavesdrop at the same time, showing the female gender's ability to multitask. Us men can too, you know, don't say we can't.

"Not everyone. I'd say only about 50, in the end, would wanna actually come. Especially as it's mocks season too. Revision over parties at this current moment. But seeing as there are only a couple more exams left, I suppose we could have one!"

"Alright!"

That was the reason why I had sore ears for the rest of the week since three high pitched squeals from girls aren't dangerous enough.

It didn't help either that the sound of the jet engines propelling the planes above me was loud too, even more, reason to try and stay off drinking heavily tonight.

Two thumps on the window broke my concentration as a cheeky smiling Ash opened the back and placed his bags down, before hopping in the front.

"Sup dude." He yawned as he relaxed back against the leather of Gramp's sedan, a small dark green BMW M3, his car for as long as I had been alive.

"Yo, happy birthday my dude." I punched his arm teasingly. "How does it feel to be an adult now?"

"Quite tiring. Too many screaming babies around em on that plane." He moaned, rubbing his eyes, the small black bags apparent.

"We're going out by the way. Thought we'd all go get a meal with ya."

"Who do you mean we?"

"Who'd you think? Serena, Shauna, Alex and Dawn, numpty. Looks like you woke up in a good mood." I sarcastically muttered as Ash slumped against the window, as I waved to the fellow driver who let me out.

"Just shut up and drive Oak Tree. The faster we get there, the faster I can end up in my bed tonight." His moans were getting more annoying with every ticking second, and I knew I had to keep him happy enough for him to enjoy the surprise we had in store. It was at that moment Shauna called, and the Bluetooth technology from the hands-free device went off.

"Hello?"

"Shauna? Just got Ash, we'll be another twenty to twenty-five minutes yet, there are roadworks on the way out of the airport."

"Ok, I'll tell Serena to get out of the shower then. Is Alexandria walking over here, or you picking her up on the way?" She asked, tapping her fingers against the worktop she was leant on, the taps coming through loudly, somehow over the shouts of Dawn in the background.

"She should be there soon, she messaged me to say she had left the house like ten minutes ago."

"Ok, see you soon."

"Speak to you then."

(Shauna POV)

"Speak to you then."

"How long are they going to be?" A frantic Dawn asked, biting her nails like no tomorrow.

"Another twenty, unfortunately," I muttered, another sip of alcohol sliding down my throat, the burning taste of the liquor tickling my taste buds.

"You need to slow down, the main event hasn't even started yet." The spectacled blonde next to me stole the whiskey bottle in my hand, placing it on top of the fridge, the one place I couldn't reach without help.

"Clemont," I whined, the science nerd smirking as his glasses lit up white. "You're a dick sometimes, you know."

"You know that's not true Shauna, only trying to look out for you, don't need to start a ruckus." He smirked, taking a long gulp of his beer, the stench starting to form on his breath.

"You get drunk too quickly too you know, you should watch out for yourself over me." I complained, looking up at him, our height difference every apparent, my feet tapping the floor frantically.

"I do that to sober up quicker, even if I do end up feeling boozy quicker then I like. It's called looking out for friends. And you're already drunk Shauna."

"Am not." I huffed in anger and walked away as Dawn started shouting again.

"They're here and just coming up! Everyone in position!" Somehow, this pep talk was loud enough to silence everyone, as they stood in the living room waiting for the boys to come in. Small whispers could be heard, as well as quiet giggles, but it was quiet.

"God, alright I'll get a shower, Jesus, Gary."

"You better hurry up then, we're leaving soon."

"Whatever, Oak Tree." The last thing said was clear as day to be Ash, as he opened the door to see everyone, as streamers and the massive banner we had set across the width of the room unravelled themselves.

"Happy birthday!!!!" The takes and cheers spring up as Ash smiled, a look on his face of pleasure and genuine surprise.

"Knew you lot would do something like this," he smiled as Gary got him a beer. "You are one conning bloke."

"Glad you enjoyed it, took us most of this week, but it was fine." Gary smiled, chucking his arm over Ash's shoulders. "It's time to party!!"

And that's what everyone there did for the rest of the mild December night. Loud music bumping throughout the apartment, voices penetrating eardrums alongside, alcohol brewing in the air, it was a long and eventful evening.

Many a time had I seen girls all over boys, couples kissing gently, or drunkards heavily making out against walls with no respect for those around them. Others playing beer pong and 'Never Have I Ever' with shots of vodka as forfeits. It was the maddest birthday party I had ever been a part of, and one I wouldn't forget for the rest of the night.

By the time that most people had left, it was the early hours of the morning. It was quiet, peaceful for the most part. Alexandria had passed out in the armchair facing the window and was sucking her thumb, a blanket placed over her body. Clement had left too, saying he had to keep an eye on his younger sister Bonnie, who had been out with friends all afternoon and was sure to be done for the weekend. He said he'd come help us clean up in the morning, seeing as his dorm was a few floors down from us.

However, these weren't the main talking points that had been picked up this evening by myself, oh no. There were two major talking points left from tonight that would change the future of the friendships in this dormitory, not just now, but forever more.

Firstly, just before I settled myself down in my room, I had done my main routine before I went to sleep, brush my teeth, get a drink, get changed and go to the toilet. Coincidentally, Gary's room is situated right next to the bathroom. So as I was exiting, turning off the light and closing the door, I could hear faint but heavy moans coming from his room.

Now, it was no secret to anyone anymore that he and Dawn weren't in the 'friends but speaking' stage, but now in the 'going into a relationship' stage. Sometimes at school, the two would scurry off by themselves to enjoy some private time, while they had been seen sneaking small kisses to each other at basketball games, plus had been out on a couple of dates too, like cinema trips and dinner.

But the two of them were risk takers, and even the teachers knew that. There had always been rumours that Gary had done drugs in the past, in his case, having dabbled in ecstasy, cannabis and MDMA, and having fake IDs to allow himself into nightclubs. He had always frigidly denied it, however, blaming it on people trying to knock his confidence and destroy his social life.

Meanwhile, Dawn had been rumoured to have been in a few uneasy relationships from when she lived back in Sinnoh towards the last couple of years in middle school. Apparently, she had been in an abusive relationship with a boy called Paul, a boy with devious intentions for her, having had her fall for him. He had apparently sexually assaulted her, and it almost came to rape, but he stopped before he got too far. Until he decided to blackmail her into committing crime for him, in return for her telling not telling anyone, saying if she did, he would kill her. It was only after she was caught in the process of shoplifting under his duress, that she told police what had happened.

Come a year later, after she had moved to Alola and started coming to Hau'oli Beach, was it that Paul was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 45 years. She was relieved, as on top of that, she had also been granted a lifetime restraint order against him.

Wondering what was happening, I glimpsed through the partially ajar door, the light from his lamp illuminating the scene inside. My eyes widened, and that image that I saw will be trapped in my mind for a while, and I quickly scampered back to my room, briskly diving face first into my pillow, giggling a little bit but mostly out of nerves.

I had seen the two, while kissing, naked and making out, engaging in sexual contact, the moans having been coming from Dawn, who looked tired and almost at the point of passing out, Gary the same. That would be the most shocking thing that I had seen tonight, but it didn't meet up to the other event if the night, oh no.

The second main event was even more of a shock, and I just wonder if they even remember what they did.

Because if Ash and Serena didn't remember that they kissed each other in front of everyone on top of the kitchen island, then they certainly would come Monday…


	12. Chapter 12

(Serena POV)

It was finally the last week before Christmas, and the spirit was in full flow throughout the school. Decorations dressed the halls in gleaming colours, students excited to the brim talking about their dream presents, and the stress of exams had left the vicinity. Even the teachers were enjoying themselves, as many students turned up on the second to last day of the term to watch the teachers vs students sports day, which featured the teachers' basketball team, led by Coach Gurrkin and his assistant, a student who has won many martial arts competitions and his granddaughter, Korrina Canard, being destroyed by the main squad, with Ash leading them to an 8 point victory. Other standout events of the day included an arm wrestle match between Gary and Professor Oak for charity, and the all famous haka performance, led by Kiawe and the other Polynesian students.

It was a mental end to a mental week, which had started at the end of the weekend. Monday had rolled around and it was many a quiet day. All of our lessons went fine, no trouble or detentions for anyone. It was only when I sat down for a couple of minutes after finishing off some quick maths work, that just me and Dawn that I had a chance to speak for 10 minutes.

"You seem really worn out," I recall her saying, a small wry smile playing its way onto her delicate face, the fork in her left hand dropping off to the side.

"I honestly can't wait for this week to finish," I said, a small yawn escaping my mouth as I started devouring my own food. "Why are you by yourself? I thought you would have been with Ash, Gary and the others."

"They were already gone by the time I had finished my work for art and got here. Plus, I've got a free lesson next, so once I've had this, I'm off to spend an hour with my current book I'm reading. Aren't you on your free lesson too?" I nodded in confirmation, the delicious burrito in my mouth stopping me from speaking. "And mostly, I've kinda got a secret..."

Secrets. Dawn's natural nemesis. Whenever she had one she always seemed under pressure. Maybe it was from her awful, horrendous past, but she was the worst person to tell them to. She always had been a gossip girl, so rumours and secrets were her nemeses as she always leaked them out. And when they were about herself, that was when they were even worse.

I thought personally, that this secret she had was going to be a quick easy simple one, but no, this was a step too far for even her. One that although would be seen as amazing to some, to others it was a time of woe and despair to one's self. And this secret was a mixture of the two.

"You two had unprotected sex?!" I admit this small outburst of laughter I had in the library Monday afternoon came out of my mouth may be a little too bit loud, causing a mouth to almost suffocating me, along with a massive hush coming from my risk-taking blue haired of a best friend.

"Serena!" She cried, on the verge of tears from her own laughing, the giggles escaping her mouth as we fell back laughing quietly, luckily without any weird looks, and plenty of jokes that could be made off of it. "It's not much of a big deal, honestly."

"Say that to yourself if you become pregnant if he was inside." I had already started, and it did make Dawn chuckle a little as she punched my arm. "So is that you two officially a couple then?"

"Maybe," she smiled looking downwards, her bottom lip behind her top jaw as I hugged her, the arms of her own coming round my body.

"Congratulations!"

I was now currently waiting outside of Kukui's, having finally finished my final shift of the week. It was a very mild day, a strong breeze whipping its way through the city, and a lot colder then it was usually here in December. It was my last couple of hours in Alola before flying out to the Caribbean to stay at my grandparents' farm for Christmas, before flying back here just before the New Year, as the celebrations were always crazy to be a part of.

This was gonna be the first year I had enough money to go to the celebrations properly, and not have to see them from my dorm or on TV. And I actually had friends who I could go with: Ash, Gary and Dawn, Mallow, Kiawe and Shauna too. If they were here, it was pretty much confirmed they would be there.

The cold, smooth tarmac felt delightful against my fingers, as my feet started tapping more and more frequently as I waited to be taken to the airport. I was fully changed, having placed my uniform on over the top of my clothes from school: a simple pairs of tatty ripped jeans, a pair of chocolate brown, leather horse riding boots and a blue and white checked shirt, my hair pulled up into a ponytail. Ash had offered to take me to the airport, and after all of the help that he had given me from the start of the school year, I truly did appreciate it all. From the little things like holding doors for me, giving answers to some questions I didn't know in lessons, just the simple things in life, to the bigger things, like helping me with my past, the date with Dad and Cynthia, and even just being more open to others, I felt in debt to him forever.

I had wanted to give the best possible present for him for the last couple of weeks, and to use it to show my overall emotions to him. For weeks and weeks, since the middle of November, I had been searching for the ideal present for Ash, but for the first few, I had no idea on what to buy. I had to console everyone I knew on what to get him, and they all said the same thing: something that says to him I love you. Everyone had picked up on my feelings, and they all wanted us to get together. The sooner, the better it seemed to everyone. I had decided in the end to pick him up a box of homemade chocolates, a custom designed card and a small friendship bracelet. Each one had been carefully chosen, with all of his qualities and liking taken into careful consideration.

The sound of his car pulling up broke my daydreaming state, the purrs of the mighty engine ripping through the silence of the night. The very boy I had just been talking smiled as he took my suitcase, placed it in the back, before, like a chauffeur, holding the door and my hand as I entered the passenger seat, the soft leather bouncing slightly underneath me as the lightest dusting of blush hit my cheeks.

"Excited to be going to your grandparents' then?" Ash asked as he accelerated away, his right hand pulling to up-shift as he made his way through the 8 speed, double clutch gearbox.

"Yeah, yeah, it's been a while since we've all been together at Christmas. This is like the second time I've been there for Christmas since Mum died." I turned to him. "What are your plans?"

"Mum is flying over from Kanto tomorrow, and we're all going to Akala for the main couple of days. Then we're coming back to Melemele and doing our normal celebrations that we do for New Year."

"Which are?" I asked, a smile making its way onto my face.

"Not telling you, unless you want to join us." He tapped the side of his nose as he continued towards the airport.

"You're joking, right?" Was I hearing this right? Was Ash indirectly asking me on a date, a date with his family and their traditions? I didn't know how to feel. Confused, excited, or outright lost in thoughts?

"Nope, not at all. I'm sure my mum will be fine with ya. Plus, it's your first time meeting my mother, so what do you say?" His innocent smile and straight face said it all. He actually was. I blushed heavily, not knowing how to respond. Did I say yes? Did I say no, but thanks for the chance? I was literally, as the word implied, speechless.

"Are you sure you want me to?" We were pulling up to the car park now, the rumble of jets taking off all around us.

"Serena, if I didn't want you to, I wouldn't have asked. Now please, will you go out with me on New Year's Eve?"


End file.
